Halo: Savior of the Battlefield
by AnchoringEla
Summary: Cortana, utilizing the Guardian's Forerunner technology, has traversed backwards in time to assimilate Earth's AI before the UNSC exists. Blue Team and the Arbiter, following them through a slipspace rupture, must stop Cortana before their time is rewritten and erased.
1. Chapter 1

Halo: Savior of the Battlefield

Chapter One: Arrival

"It's about time," Dr. Halsey said as she locked eyes with the man whom she basically considered to be her son. She briskly walked over to him and smiled. "When I had heard on the Infinity that you were alive, I never stopped searching for you."

"Something has happened to Cortana."

Master Chief stated, ignoring her comment.

"Yes, I'm aware." Halsey replied. "She is long past her expiration date, John. Her rampancy is-"

"It has nothing to do with that." Chief interrupted aggressively. "I thought I lost her on the Didact's ship. When I found her again, she wasn't experiencing rampancy. She wasn't even the same AI I once knew."

Spartan Locke decided he felt like saying something. "She may have been influenced by the Forerunner technology within the Cryptum. I don't think she's controlling the Prometheans or the Guardian; I think they're controlling her."

The Arbiter stepped forward and shook his head. "Your speculation is wasting time. We must act only on what we know, and all we know is that she is out there and we must stop her." He directed his gaze towards the Master Chief and nodded. "Spartan, I am relieved to see you alive. I wish it were under better circumstances."

"Cortana is not that far gone." John insisted. "We can still bring her back."

The Arbiter looked up to the sky and sighed. "Were it so easy."

Linda rushed out to the opening of the Pelican and yelled, "John! We have confirmation of Cortana and the Guardian's location!"

Spartan Locke, still feeling like he's worthy of speaking, responded, "Let's go!"

The Arbiter waved him off. "No. Agent Locke, you and your team will stay here with my Elites to protect Dr. Halsey. I will go. I believe your Master Chief would not welcome your company as much as mine."

Locke hesitated, but realizing the Arbiter was infinitely stronger and more intelligent than him, he agreed to his terms. Shortly thereafter, Blue Team and the Arbiter departed Sanghelios in their Pelican. Linda and Fred cooperated to triangulate Cortana's exact position; in low orbit above Earth. It would normally be impossible to make it from Sanghelios to Earth in a timely manner, however the Arbiter equipped this Pelican with leftover Covenant technology which considerably increased its speed and efficiency. It would only require a few hours to arrive.

Kelly was piloting the ship with Linda, Fred, Chief and the Arbiter in the rear compartment.

"Spartan," the gold-plated elite began, "what do you intend to do when find Cortana?"

"Reason with her." The sage-green Spartan-II replied. "No one is going to harm her."

"John," Fred interjected, "I love you like a brother, but you said it yourself, she's not the same AI anymore. Reason and logic don't compute with her circuit systems like they used to. We know how important she is to you, but she is still a machine at her co-"

Master Chief turned to Fred aggressively and growled, "She is more than a machine. We're the machines, not her!"

Linda stood herself up and shook her head slowly. "John, this isn't like you." She gently placed her hand on his shoulder. "Listen, we're all still family, and we're with you all the way, but we need to know that you're still with us."

Master Chief paused, realizing his outburst that they all just witnessed. Before he could say anything, Kelly shouted, "We're here! And you're not going to like what you see!"

The Guardian spread itself wide as a slipspace portal appeared adjacent to itself.

"Where is it going?!" Fred inquired. "It's already at Earth!"

"Not where." Kelly replied. "When. I'm receiving scattered temporal readings from the rupture. It's time-travelling."

"We have to follow them in." Chief ordered.

"Woah woah woah," Fred worried. "Follow them in? That's insane."

"No," the Arbiter stopped him. "He is right. If we allow her to travel through time, who knows what she will do."

Kelly fully engaged the engines and pushed the throttle, following the Guardian through the slipspace portal close behind.

"You're in perfect health, Jack!" The Swiss female doctor confirmed.

"All those drugs pumped into me must be worth something after all," Morrison replied. "Thanks, Angela."

They briefly shook hands and embraced. Before Commander Morrison left the room, he turned to Dr. Ziegler and asked, "Are we still on for dinner tonight?"

Mercy chuckled and nodded in response. "Absolutely! See you at 7!" They waved at each other as the man finally left the room. Dr. Ziegler sighed and stretched her arms before rearranged her clipboards and papers. "What a busy day..." She muttered to herself. "I should probably go check on Winston. I can't imagine he's been exercising enough."

She finished arranging her supplies, exited her office, and locked the door behind her. Angela meandered her way over to Winston's laboratory just down the hallway. She knocked before letting herself in. "Winston?" She asked as she entered. "I'm just checking in on you."

The gorilla was seated at his desk scrolling through his computers. "Oh, Dr. Ziegler!" He exclaimed. "Come on in! Just the woman I wanted to see!"

She walked over to him, noticing his round physique. "You haven't been following your exercise routine." Her eyes locked onto the numerous empty jars of peanut butter on his desk. "Nor your dietary plan."

"Nevermind that," Winston dismissed, "I installed a new medical program into Athena! I thought you might like to have an assistant help you diagnose patients!"

"Well, that's nice, Winston, but I don't really nee-"

Her sentence was interrupted by the screams of civilians outside the building. The duo rushed over to the windows to notice a massive blue and gray machine floating in the atmosphere. "What..." Angela could barely muster a single word. She was in complete shock from witnessing such a monstrosity. An orange beam of light flashed the building and the duo shielded themselves with their arms, but the beam wouldn't have harmed them anyways. Winston turned around and noticed his previously blue computer screen turned orange. "Athena...?" He asked.

"Hello, Winston." Athena replied. "I have deleted all of your appointments today. The Mantle of Responsibility takes precedent over you."


	2. Chapter 2

Halo: Savior of the Battlefield Chapter Two

Jesse McCree gagged and spit the coffee out of his mouth and onto the counter in front of him. "Ugh, still tastes like trash," he reconfirmed to himself. "I don't know why I think it'll change each time I try it. Guess I'm a bit desperate for something to happen around here."

It's an understandable feeling for him to have. The gunslinging cowboy was isolated from the rest of the world with no method of contacting anyone. The temperature was always hot and the sun was always blaring high in the sky with nothing to obscure its smoldering rays. The train that dangled helplessly from the railroad tracks that towered overhead was still present with no signs of actually falling to the ground below it. McCree wished every day for something to happen; but he should have been careful for what he wished.

He heard a deafening whirr echo from the outside. "What the Hell?" He asked himself. He drew his trusty Peacekeeper and darted out the front double doors. A moderately-sized green aircraft was spiraling towards the gas station up the road from him. Both of its engines had erupted in flames and the port wing was absent. It crashed directly into the gas station; which initiated a massive explosion; completely engulfing the Pelican in flames. The cowboy rushed towards the crash site as quickly as he could. When he arrived, he attempted to peer inside of it, but couldn't see past the flames nor the smoke. "Hello?!" He called. "Is anyone alive in there?"

There was no verbal response, however, the feeling that somebody was watching him was creeping up his spine. He turned his head to notice a distorted entity directly behind him. Before McCree had adequate time to even perceive what was before him, the distortion quickly revealed itself to be a golden-armored alien wielding an Energy Sword. His eyes widened as the blade was swung expeditiously towards his neck. He barely rolled out of the way before hastily fanning the hammer on his revolver; unleashing all six rounds in rapid succession. Only three of the shots managed to land on their target, and their damage was nonexistent. McCree reloaded his weapon and aimed it directly at his opponent. "Now listen!" He commanded. "I ain't looking for a fight! I was just here making sure no one was hurt!"

The Arbiter maintained a threatening gaze towards the man. "You arrived wielding a weapon," the Elite recalled. "If your intent was to help, you would not have had it drawn."

Jesse looked down at himself, realizing the alien's point.

"Alright, you got me." The man admitted. "Thinkin' back, I guess havin' my gun out wasn't a great choice. I'm gonna put it away, and you put your fancy sword away; and no more of that disappearin' stuff! Deal?"

The Arbiter hesitated, but nodded shortly afterwards. The two gradually lowered their respective weapons in unison. McCree placed his revolver back in its hilt on his hip and the Arbiter deactivated his Energy Sword before placing it in a similar spot on himself.

The gunslinger's eyes found themselves looking back at the crashed Pelican. "Was it just you in there?" He inquired.

"Yes," the Arbiter replied. "My comrades fell out of the aircraft as it descended into the atmosphere. I was the only one present when it crashed."

"Sorry to hear about your pals. Happens to the best of us." McCree somewhat attempted to console.

"I am not worried." The Arbiter stared off past the cliff in the direction from which he arrived. "They have all survived much worse."

"Worse than falling from the sky?" He inquired doubtfully.

The golden Elite returned his sight to the man adjacent to him, changing the subject. "You do not seem surprised to see me. Most would tremble in fear simply from looking at me."

"Well, I've met a few strange characters myself; including a talking gorilla. You ain't all that weird, but I would like to know why you're here. I definitely ain't never seen something like you, so that means something's not right."

The Arbiter nodded before turning away. "Your planet is in danger. We must find my allies if we are to save it. We must move quickly if we are to find them in time."

"Woah woah woah," McCree stopped him. "Not so fast. Why is my planet in danger? And you aren't from around here, so why do you care?"

The Sangheili started to maneuver down the road and gestured for the cowboy to follow. "Come, I will explain the situation as we journey, but we must make haste."

Everything was in flames. Where Overwatch HQ once proudly stood, was now nothing but rubble and dust. It had been ripped to shreds by an unstoppable horde of robotic beings controlled by the Guardian still hovering high up in the atmosphere. They had since disappeared from the battlefield; off to slaughter whatever it is they were told to slaughter. Commander Morrison, with what little strength he had remaining, forced a pile of rocks off of his body and weakly stood on his feet; his rifle in his right hand. He limped across the beaten courtyard; his eyes locked on to every lifeless body he passed, hoping he wouldn't find anyone he recognized. Most of them were faceless agents that he hadn't seen before; valiant soldiers nonetheless. He vaguely remembered a few of his fallen comrades from training exercises, but he didn't really know any of them; not until he realized who was lying adjacent to where the doors used to be.

A winged valkyrie had her back resting against an arch that managed to remain standing. A massive boulder had landed on her thighs; completely immobilizing her. "Angela!" Jack cried out as he sprinted over to her. He dropped his rifle and kneeled down beside her. The old soldier gently shook his injured friend's shoulders. "Angela?" He whispered fanatically. "Angela, can you hear me?"

The eyes on the bloodied angel's face gradually opened to reveal two beautiful blue irises. "Jack…?" She softly replied. "I-I can't feel my legs. What color are they?"

Jack peered over the boulder to see that her legs were not present; they were no longer attached to her body. "They…" He stuttered. "They're fine."

Angela laughed through a painful cough. "You're such a bad liar. It's what I love about you."

He returned his gaze to Angela's eyes. "Come on." He encouraged as he leaned in to pick her up. "I'm getting you out of here."

She winced and shook her head. "I'm not going back with you this time."

"What?" He asked with a shock.

"I've lost too much blood. My heart can't compensate for it; it will give out soon."

Angela's eerie calmness frightened Jack. He had never seen such serenity from her when facing death.

"I am not leaving you here." He stated sternly. "I can carry you out of here."

"Jack…" Angela replied as she placed one hand on his cheek. She slowly removed his visor and smiled at his visible face. "That's quite a scar."

A single tear managed to free itself from Jack's eye and roll down the side of his cheek. "I can't lose you Angela- not yet. There's so much we haven't done; so much I haven't told you."

Angela gently placed a finger against his lips. "Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss in life is what dies inside us while we live. You're a strong man, Jack. You have to move on; stop those machines so that nothing like this ever happens again."

Angela's hand slowly lowered itself away from her friend's lips. "Take care, Jack. I was lucky to have known you."

His eyes widened. "No, Angela, don't do this to me!"

"Though the parting hurts, the rest is in your hands." Angela's beautiful blue eyes were once again covered and her hand rested on the ground.


End file.
